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[Paul Cory <pwcory AT mindspring.com>]

> > "Capitalism, by it's very nature, concentrates wealth and
> > power into the hands of a very few, and those few are loathe
> > to give it up."
> I'm dumbfounded by this statement.  Name one nation in this
> world that has a greater percentage of its population >living< more
> comfortably than American's do.

Your argument is flawed, because America doesn't practice "pure" 
capitalism. In this country, capitalism's tendency to concentrate 
wealth and power has been reigned in by government action: labor laws 
(minimum wage, overtime pay, collective bargaining rights), antitrust 
laws, regulation of monopolies (such as power companies), estate taxes, 
and a progressive tax code that, combined with a welfare system for the 
poor and elderly, redistributes wealth from the rich to the less 
fortunate.

Please also note that over the past 24 years, as the Republicans have 
gained ascendancy, they have greatly weakened government efforts in all 
the above areas. Predictably, over the same period of time, wealth in 
this country has become more greatly concentrated.

Paul